|
Saturday, December 20, 2008 at 2PM
Roy Thomson Hall
Tickets: $44.50 - $34.50
Call 416-872-4255 or visit the Roy Thomson Hall Box Office
www.roythomson.com
Toronto – The award-winning Toronto Children’s Chorus
returns to Roy Thomson Hall on Saturday, December
20 at 2PM to present its annual Christmas concert, a
long-standing cherished Toronto tradition. Artistic Director
Elise Bradley leads more than 300 choristers – ages 6 to 17
– in an enchanting selection of timeless and contemporary seasonal
classics with special guests the TCC Alumni Choir,
True North Brass and percussionists John Rudolph and David
Kent (both from the TSO). The program includes the Canadian
premiere of Sir Christemas by Florida-based composer David
Brunner, the North American premiere of Christmas Come In
by New Zealand composer David Hamilton, Magnificat by Toronto
composer Eleanor Daley, Sir Christëmas by British-Canadian
composer Derek Holman, and many sing-along carols and holiday favourites.
The Toronto Children’s Chorus Alumni Choir sings carols in the
lobby before the concert under the direction of Dr. Karen Grylls,
visiting professor of Choral Conducting from the University of Auckland,
New Zealand.
The Toronto Children’s Chorus, one of the world’s leading
children’s choral ensembles, was founded in 1978 by Jean Ashworth
Bartle who retired as its Music Director in June 2007. Each year,
over 300 children are given unique opportunities to perform in
local, regional, national and international venues. Performances
have included triumphant debuts at Carnegie Hall (1994), the Kennedy
Center (1995), Sydney Opera House (1999), Philadelphia’s Kimmel
Center (2001), and London’s Royal Albert Hall (2002). The choir
has won numerous first-place awards, including the Welsh International
Musical Eisteddfod, the Let the Peoples Sing Euroradio Choral Competition,
and is a six-time winner as Canada’s leading children’s choir in
CBC Radio’s National Competition for Amateur Choirs. The choir's
repertoire embraces an extensive range of musical genres including
more than 20 new Canadian works it has commissioned. It has performed
under such noted conductors as Sir Andrew Davis, the late Elmer
Iseler, Helmuth Rilling, Bramwell Tovey and Sir David Willcocks
and can be heard on more than a dozen CDs, including an EMI Canada
recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the Birmingham Symphony
Orchestra conducted by Sir Simon Rattle.
Elise Bradley was appointed Artistic Director of the Toronto
Children’s Choir in 2007. She was previously Head of Music at Westlake
Girls’ High School in Auckland, New Zealand where she directed the
renowned Key Cygnetures Choir. Under her direction, the choir won
the City of Vienna Prize at the Internationales Jugendmusicfest
in 2005 against choirs from around the world, and in 2006 won the
Supreme Award in New Zealand at the Secondary Schools’ Music Festival.
Ms. Bradley was also the Musical Director of the New Zealand Secondary
Students’ Choir, which was named a Champion Choir at the World Choir
Games in Xiamen, China in 2006.
This performance is co-presented by Roy Thomson Hall and Toronto
Children’s Chorus.
|
|
